BELARUS: Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko has said that he had convinced Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin in an emotional phone call to end a mutiny by his men, Reuters reported on Tuesday.
Under an agreement brokered by Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko, an old fellow, Prigozhin abandoned what a “march for justice” by thousands of his fighters on Russia’s capital Moscow in exchange for safe passage to shift Belarus.
Belarusian President Says He Talked Wagner Chief Back from Brink
Belarusian leader, recounting his role in Saturday’s mutiny to Belarusian officials and officers, hailed Wagner chief as a “heroic man” who had been shaken by the deaths of many of his fighters in Ukraine.
Lukashenko added he tried for hours by telephone to reason with Prigozhin, who has said he was frantic at corruption in the army leadership and wanted to revenge an alleged military assault on his fighters.
He said that, earlier on Saturday, President Putin had also sought his help, complaining that Wagner head was not taking any calls. Lukashenko claimed he had advised the Russian President against “rushing” to crush the rebels.
Prigozhin said he had never planned to topple the government of Putin but wanted Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and the chief of the General Staff, Valery Gerasimov, dismissed.
“No one will give you either Gerasimov or Shoigu,” Lukashenko said he told the group head, eventually convincing him that Russia’s capital would be defended and to continue the mutiny would engulf the country in grief and turmoil.
